The Human Virome Flashcards
1
Q
Define the human virome
A
The collection of viruses found in or on humans
2
Q
Examples of viruses in the human virome
A
- EBV
- VZV
- Herpes simplex
- CMV
3
Q
Categories of the human virome
A
- persistent/latent infections
- transient infections with animal cell viruses
- endogenous retroviruses
- bacteriophage predators of bacteria and archea
4
Q
Methods for studying viruses
A
- traditional methods (microscopy and Ab-binding assays)
- molecular methods (sequencing)
5
Q
Advantages of molecular methods for studying viruses
A
- virus culture allows functional assays to understand life cycle etc.
6
Q
Disadvantages of molecular methods for studying viruses
A
- slow, time consuming and labor intensive
- many viruses are hard to grow
- culturing conditions are different for various viruses
- PCR requires prior sequence info for primer design
7
Q
Define viral metagenomics
A
Sequencing of all viral genomes within an environment or sample
8
Q
3 steps in enriching virus
A
- remove contaminating cells, concentrate and purify viral particles (centrifuge and filter)
- remove free nucleic acids (DNAse treatment)
- extract and amplify viral nucleic acids (Phenol extraction)
9
Q
Advantages of Next Gen sequencing
A
- parallel sequencing of millions of DNA strands
- no need for fragment cloning methods
- no need for prior sequence info
10
Q
Goals of virome studies
A
- characterize complex uncultured viral communities
- find new or emerging pathogens
- characterize populations of a specific virus
- monitor viral evolution
- characterize viral DNA integration into genomes
- study virus-host interactions
11
Q
Role of phages
A
- lyse bacteria and release cell contents
- provide evolutionary pressure on bacteria
- confer selective advantage
- horizontal gene tranfer
- in mucus, act as a barrier to bacterial infection
12
Q
Non-host derived immunity to bacterial infection
A
- epithelial cells secrete mucus
- phages adhere to mucus through Ig-like domains
- Adherent phage form anti-microbial layer
- mucus-adherent phage have increased chance of replicative success
- phage and bacteria are shed with mucus
13
Q
How can Anellovirus levels be used clinically?
A
- used to gauge the level of a patients immunocompetence
